Very Weird Problem, Related To "adobe".

[Thanh-BKK]

Hello

Despite having quite some knowledge on computers and Windows, i am sitting on a problem here which i can't find a solution for. It's one of the computers in my office, genuine XP Home OEM.

Whenever i click on "My Computer" (desktop or start menu) or "Control Panel", it opens up a small window "Adobe Professional 7.0 Setup" which will ask for the CD, but with or without the CD in the drive will not do anything. I have to "cancel" it, then it will come again, i "cancel" a second time and THEN "My Computer" or "Control Panel" will open.

I already uninstalled Adobe completely (including manual registry cleanup) - no change. Reinstalled it - still same. Even tried a (pirated) newer version of Adobe - it STILL comes up with the "Adobe Professional 7.0 Setup".

I have checked that machine for viruses and/or spyware - didn't find any, it's got all Windows updates (incl. SP 3) but that problem already existed before that upgrade.

I would appreciate any input on the subject as a lengthy "googling" session brought no results at all.

Best regards.....

Thanh

[Guest Reimar]

Delete all Cookies and Temp Files. You'll also need to set the system files visible, as well as hidden files and folders.

May you need to install a progam named NTFS for DOS. Booting from an NTFS Boot Diskette (created with NTFS for DOS) and use an old program named Norton Commander to delete all the Temp files. The diectory System Volume Information need to be cleared completly as well.

Is quite a big job and you need to know some of the old DOS commands for to succed. You may need to reset the Attributes for the Files in question to be able to delete them.

Have fun!

Cheers.

[Thanh-BKK]

Thank you very much for the reply, Reimar However the machine doesn't have a floppy drive - how to do? And why "cookies" - the problem isn't related to the internet/browser?

can the temp files be deleted from within "Safe Mode"?

Or by booting a Linux live CD? (i guess that might be the best option actually)

Where exactly are the files to be deleted ("Temp" folder i know, but looks like there's more to it?)

Or, maybe the fastest - would a Windows repair install fix this? I haven't tried that yet as the computer is in use daily and works fine apart from that stupid "bug".

Best regards......

Thanh

[RakJungTorlae]

Thank you very much for the reply, Reimar However the machine doesn't have a floppy drive - how to do? And why "cookies" - the problem isn't related to the internet/browser?

can the temp files be deleted from within "Safe Mode"?

Or by booting a Linux live CD? (i guess that might be the best option actually)

Where exactly are the files to be deleted ("Temp" folder i know, but looks like there's more to it?)

Or, maybe the fastest - would a Windows repair install fix this? I haven't tried that yet as the computer is in use daily and works fine apart from that stupid "bug".

Best regards......

Thanh

I would start it in normal running mode then go to tools, internet options, genral , Delete cookies, delete files …

Try downloading CCcleaner and use its registry cleaner

If fales call Adobe and give them hel_l and try a quick repair

[Guest Reimar]

I wouldn't go the way RakJungTorlae wrote.

OK Thanh, you can start to check all Cookies peace by peace for it's contents but that can be long story! So, better deleted the cookies and which you'll need sometimes will be reloaded.

A Repair of Windows will NOT work for this because it din't delete the contents of the System Information Folder and others.

The most of the Temp Files you can delete within to be in Safe Mode but even NOT all because some of the directories and/or files are locked.

I would suggest to buy an USB-Floppy drive (app. THB 400-500) and use a Boot Diskette, but you can even make an USB Stick bootable.

Unfortunate I never used the NTFS for DOS Program for to boot from USB Stick or CD I use Floppy drives (USB- and internal) You must even copy some old DOS files, special attrib.com or attrib.exe to the boot disk because you need to reset the File Attributes wiyh this command: attrib c:\[dir]\*.* -r -h -s /s to remove the attibutes Read Only, Hidden and System

Cheers.

[malcolmswaine]

I would try and contact Adobe Support. This may be an issue they know about. Their software update process is appalling so I wouldn’t be surprised if it had something to do with that.

Out of interest, if you log on as another user do you still get the same problem?

Things I also would try

1) Remove any Adobe Programs from Add/remove programs

2) Manually delete any Adobe files from

- Documents and Settings\[user]\Application Data\Adobe

- Documents and Settings\[user]\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe

- Documents and Settings\[user]\Local Settings\Temp\Adobe

- Program Files\Adobe

- Program Files\Common Files\Adobe

- Program Files\Common Files\Adobe Systems Shared

3) Do a search in the regirstry for Adobe, and delete any keys

Reboot

Edited June 23, 2008 by malcolmswaine

[Veazer]

I had this problem before, usually when accessing the computer from another account that was not the one used to install Acrobat.

Can you post the exact wording used on the popup window? This will help us to find a solution.

If i recall correctly, it's a permissions issue with some of the setup files. Not sure exactly...

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi

I will try the above suggestions today as soon as i get to the office. Few points:

Yes, i did uninstall and manually clean the registry of "Adobe" entries. I did NOT, however, hunt for stray files it may have left somewhere.

There is only one user account on the machine (plus "Administrator") but i will create another and se if the problem is still present. The machine is only a workstation, no important data on it - i can as well wipe it and reinstall OS from scratch.

I did send an e-mail to Adobe a while ago (problem is present since about a couple of months) but never received acknowledgement or reply.

I was just wondering what cayused this strange problem as i honestly have never seen it before. I had PROGRAMS launch the wrong things before (i.e. click on "Firefox" and up comes Word - specially MS Office does play such tricks on older machines) but never parts of the OS ("My Computer" etc).

With kind regards.....

Thanh

[Veazer]

Try changing the account with the problem to have administrator privileges temporarily. If that fixes the issue, then I'm nearly sure it's a permissions issue.

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi

Problem is solved - the "Microsoft" way.

I did create another user account, and the same problem appeared there as well. Then i booted into "Safe Mode" and it was NOT present.

So i just booted again, this time from the Windows CD - and an hour later i had a nice, clean, wiped HDD with a brand new XP installation that is problem-free. By now Adobe is reinstalled, so is SP 3, and everything works as it should.

Still curious what may have caused it in first place......

Best regards.....

Thanh

[JSixpack]

Hi

Problem is solved - the "Microsoft" way.

I did create another user account, and the same problem appeared there as well. Then i booted into "Safe Mode" and it was NOT present.

So i just booted again, this time from the Windows CD - and an hour later i had a nice, clean, wiped HDD with a brand new XP installation that is problem-free. By now Adobe is reinstalled, so is SP 3, and everything works as it should.

Still curious what may have caused it in first place......

Best regards.....

Thanh

It was a corrupt installer problem. You needed to have downloaded and run the free Windows installer clean-up tool and got rid of the old Adobe installer, which was still hanging around. Would have taken about 3 minutes.

Re-intallation of Windows is almost never needed.

Edited June 25, 2008 by JSixpack

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi

Appreciate that.... but AFTER it'[s done it's easy to analyze As i have gotten replies before that suggest very different methods, some of which are very time-consuming (and would even need purchase of additional hardware, i.e. USB floppy etc) i wanted to be on the safe side.... i've been in similar situations before (Windows as well as Linux) where i tried a number of methods to troubleshoot somewhat small-ish problems only to find that none would yield a solution......

As the machine in question is one that's used daily i didn't want to have it down while i try the various methods, so i chose the one guaranteed to work - a reinstall of OS I know it's overkill but hey, it took only an hour, i didn't need to buy anything and the problem is solved

Best regards......

Thanh

[JSixpack]

Appreciate that.... but AFTER it'[s done it's easy to analyze

Sorry, I had just noticed this thread. But you did express curiosity as to what had caused the problem.

Edited June 25, 2008 by JSixpack